Prestwick Group moving to Lac La Belle
Company will rebuild golf course

By Kelly Smith - Special to The Freeman

May 3,
2018

LAC LA BELLE —
The Village Board unanimously approved Wednesday night an agreement
that the Prestwick Group will rebuild the Lac La Belle Golf Course
and then relocate its corporate headquarters on 26 acres adjacent to
the course.

The vote
followed a 90-minute closed session during which Village
Administrator George Stumpf provided a progress report on
negotiations with Prestwick and village trustees discussed the
details of the 15-page development agreement, according to Village
Attorney Hector de la Mora.

De la Mora and
Stumpf explained there are two construction phases called for in the
agreement.

During the
first phase, Prestwick will totally redesign and rebuild the golf
course it is purchasing from a group of owners.

Village
officials say redesigning the golf course, which is adjacent to Lake
Lac La Belle, will help improve the water quality of the lake by
reducing surface water runoff into it.

Village
President Tim Clark said the redevelopment agreement is consistent
with the village’s top priority of preserving the lake.

Prestwick Vice
President Tyler Morse said he expects the purchase of the course to
be closed on Friday and reconstruction to begin immediately.

The course will
be closed for a year.

The second
phase of the agreement provides for Prestwick to build an
approximately 60,000 square-foot corporate headquarters complex on
26 acres of farmland that is adjacent to the golf course.

Prestwick will
purchase the 26 acres owned by the village for $340,000. The
purchase price will also include sewer utility credits for the
company.

However,
approval by the village of the construction of the corporate
headquarters is contingent upon Prestwick successfully completing
the reconstruction of the golf course and gaining necessary village
approvals including rezoning the land, according to village
officials.

The rezoning
will have to be approved by the Plan Commission.

However, Plan
Commission approval of the development agreement is not necessary,
according to de la Mora, because the agreement involves the
redevelopment of existing land for a permitted use in the zoning
district.

Morse said
company officials are pleased and excited by the new agreement with
the village.

The company,
headquartered in Sussex, got its start in 1977 by using recycled
materials to create equipment for golf courses and is named after
the Scottish golf course that was the first site of the British Open
Championship.

Ironically, the
Lac La Belle course, built in 1896, is one of the oldest golf
courses in the state and believed to be perhaps the only one in the
country that had two teaching professionals who won multiple U.S.
Open Championships in the early 1900s.

The company has
expanded into the outdoor furnishing and equipment business, selling
products in more than 61 countries and generating more than $200
million in revenues.

During the past
seven months, the company has tried to get approvals from the city
of Delafield to develop a corporate campus near the Interstate
94/Hwy C (Genesee Street) interchange.

Company and
village officials have apparently been in behind the scenes
negotiations over the development agreement for the past two months.